Tuesday, May 08, 2007

If I Ever Move to L.A. This Will Become Easier

Recently I wrote a post in which I lamented loudly that there is no such thing in this world as an action movie starring black kids. There isn't. Not one. Zippo. Zero. Zilch. And I said that it would make beautiful sense to turn The Ear, the Eye and the Arm into a film. But what could any of us have done about such a thing? Well this reader had an idea, and it's a damn fine one at that. Check it out.

My kids and I LOOOOVED that book, just loved it. It really does have all the elements of a great feature film. So, I thought: heck, who in Hollywood has power and would want to make a great fantasy/sci fi movie that starred black people in a positive light? Who has kids who'd love the book? Who could star in the movie itself?

Will Smith!!!!!!!

I tracked down his production company, found his VP of development, had my kids write letters to the VP, wrote one myself, threw in our battered and beloved copy and popped it into the mail.

I'm very fond of this idea. Think Hollywood should make a movie out of your favorite book? Tell them. It's a novel thought. And maybe it won't make a lick of difference, but at least this woman has gone out and done something. Kudos all around. As I said to her, by the time anyone gets around to making this anyway, Smith's son will be old enough to play the lead.

I had a friend whose job was to read books for one of the big studios and recommend which ones should get turned into movies. Cush job, right? She seldom read past page 50. The demands of good storytelling differ in print than onscreen, and she was warned not to waste producers' time with a story that wouldn't translate well between media.

That being said, most of what Hollywood does is recycle plots from favorite books. So go figure.

I wish your reader well. It's an uphill battle, but certainly far stranger things have made it to the Big Screen.